AYUTTHAYA, Thailand, April 4 (Xinhua) -- "A safety driver was sitting behind the wheel just to oversee a trial run, but the vehicle could navigate autonomously," Jidapha Chuboon recounted her excitement while taking Thailand's first driverless electric bus, which recently took the road near the Ayutthaya Historical Park.
Equipped with 5G technology, passengers can book a seat by scanning the QR code and using the mobile application to track the bus' real-time location. "This free and comfortable ride is excellent, especially for tourists coming here to visit the park," the 60-year-old local street vendor told Xinhua.
Funded by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, the 20-seater bus is currently undergoing a road test. It is operated along a 2.8-kilometer loop that connects tourist hotspots in the UNESCO-listed historic city of Ayutthaya in central Thailand, which is known for its archeological ruins and Buddhist temples.
The prototype bus was developed domestically by King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi in collaboration with local tech companies, and it is planned to be in trial service until July this year, said 30-year-old Pongwut Koovimol, an artificial intelligence (AI) engineer at Turnkey Communication Services Public Company Limited.
"As the country's first unmanned bus to hit public roads, we hope this project will pave the way for more integration of 5G communication and autonomous technology in everyday life," the AI researcher said.
Boarding the bus from one of its four stops near his college, 18-year-old student Ronnakorn Sukkasem said the self-driving bus brings novel and better development to the city, hoping that this technical advancement would attract more tourists to his hometown.
According to Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Supamas Isarabhakdi, the project aims to enhance public transportation safety and promote sustainable tourism at historical sites, with plans to expand to other areas in the future.
The goal is to develop vehicles that reduce road accidents, improve the environment, and bolster the economy. As C-V2X (cellular vehicle-to-everything) technology becomes more widespread, electric vehicles (EVs) will connect with road infrastructure, increasing safety for all road users, the minister said at the launch ceremony of the trial run in January.
Thailand has long encouraged the adoption of EVs in public transport. The number of newly registered battery-powered electric buses in the kingdom jumped to 1,218 units in 2023, a 24.8 percent increase over the previous year, data from the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) showed.
As the development of EV infrastructure keeps advancing, the transition to electrified buses will be a future-proofed option for reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality, said Surapong Paisitpattanapong, vice president and spokesperson of the FTI's automotive industry club.
Last year, the Bangkok Metropolitan Council approved a draft regulation to phase out all fossil fuel-based public buses within seven years in an effort to tackle airborne pollution in the Thai capital with the transition to cleaner energy.
In February, the Southeast Asian country unveiled a plan to expand its incentive program to further promote the use of commercial EVs through a special tax deduction for businesses to switch their fleets of large trucks and buses to battery-powered vehicles.
According to the National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee, the approved plan will extend earlier sets of measures focused on the passenger car to all segments of EVs and support Thai companies' moves toward their net-zero emissions target.
The Thai government plans for battery EVs to account for 30 percent of the nation's total auto production by 2030, with an estimated annual production capacity of 725,000 units. ■
